¶ The .xxii. Chapter.
¶ And he shewed me a pure ryuer of water of lyfe, clere as Christ all: procedyng out of the seate of God, and of the lambe. In the myddes of the strete of it, and of e••her ••yde of y• ry∣uer was ther wood of lyfe: which bare twelue maner of frutes: & gaue frute euery moneth and y• ••eues of the wood serued to heale the people with al. And ther shalbe no more cu••se, but the seate of God and the lambe shalbe in it: and his seruauntes shall serue him. And they shal se his face, & his name shalbe in their forheades. And ther shalbe no night there, and they nede no candle nether lyght of the sunne: for the Lorde geueth them lighte, and they shall raygne for euermore.
CHrist openeth vnto Iohn his deare beloued disciple, the secrete misteries of the kingdom of heauē, & expoundeth the visions of the other prophetes, as farre furth as is requisite & necessary for the christen doctrine. And thus Iohn seeth here a pure ryuer of water, very clere, whiche is the holy scripture, ye worde of god, the doctrine of Christ, & the holy gospel of our saluaciō. That same is clere vnto al them that haue a pure heart & mynde, not defyled nor blemished with transitorye loue & care of y• worlde, nor with any temptacions of ye flesshe. This holy doctrine procedeth & commeth out frō the holy spirite of god, and of Christ. For he is one God with y• father & the sonne. He is the seate of glorye, of omnipotencie & of ye godheade. He procedeth out from the welspring of all wyse∣dom grace & mercye, and floweth throughe the myddes of al streates of Christes churche, which is the citie of god & of the lambe. And of both sides of y• riuer doe stāde glorious & bewtiful trees of lyfe which receyue their increase, their leaues and frute, of the moysture of the riuer. And these trees are ye holy fathers, of the faithful christen churche, of the olde & new testament, whiche by their faith, and by their vnderstandynge and readyng of the holy scripture, of ye lawe, of ye pro∣phetes, and of the gospell, haue lyued, taught and wrought very frutefully in the holy citie of the churche, and haue brought forthe twelue maner of frutes, that is to saye many frutes, and haue serued god without ceasynge with muche frute and profyte in right and true good wo••kes and vertuous exercises. The leaues, frute and sappe of these holy trees, were very holsome and soueraine, as were also the frutes of the dysciples, of the prophetes and apostles. For the holy bysshops and preachers of Gods worde, dyd make repentance,